GG116 Swedish harp guitar 1922 made in Norrtelje

This I found on a flea ice cream in Örnsköldsvik summer 2017. In the picture I see that it cost 250 SEK!

    

Looked interesting albeit a little primitive. It was built as a harp guitar with 6 extra bass strings, but someone had removed the extension of the head and converted it to a regular guitar. Unusually, there is a date and the name of the person who built it inside in the form of pencil notes. The name is difficult to decipher but it was made in Norrtelje in 1922, possibly it says CP Carlsson or CF Carlsson  The original stable was a solid lump made of oak, the fingerboard was also made of oak. The fretboard had a light scalloping the first 7 bands and decorations in the form of ebony daughters - the only wood in the guitar that has not been cut in the Swedish forest! The lid in solid spruce, the neck probably in birch and the bottom and side were plywood. Apart from Söderman lutes from about the same time, I do not usually work with plywood guitars as I always thought that they would not sound good, but this one proved that even plywood (at the bottom and side and not too thick) can be found in a guitar that sounds good !

The guitar is primitive in both design and detail. The stable was far too heavy, the ribs strong and the neck a real club! The Levin inspired payroll under the stable made it never sound particularly good. The upper saddle is very narrow (43 mm) while the stable leg is among the widest I have seen (66 mm between the outermost strands). The grip board is thus more triangular than usual, but when you play on it you get used quickly. In addition, there will be plenty of room for fingers and plectrums with the right hand. It is larger than a regular parlor, 97 cm long, 35,5 cm at the widest point and 8,5 cm wide side. 62 cm mens watch, sound hole 8,5 cm. Does not fit in a regular parlor case.

The lid, bottom and side had good thicknesses. The bottom has a slight curvature in both directions while the lid is flat.

Not much decorations on the guitar, no bindings and a very simple decoration on the lid. The only artistic thing was the end of the fretboard. I think this popular “snap” of the fretboard was created to save on the expensive straps and then it became a fashion 🙂

I like strong necks, but this one was "too much". Thinned it down a lot on the back, but it is still strong. Is thinnest at the top and gets thicker down towards the neck foot.

       

Made a new smaller pyramid stable in a coarse-fiber rosewood that was selected to resemble the oak, also the fretboard became new and in rosewood. I gave it a 16 ″ radius and mounted similar black dots in ebony as in the original board. The tuning screws had to have black knobs and the string sticks lack pearl mortar to match the black dots of the fretboard.

The holes after the original extra head and the stick that is attached between the head and side of the guitar were left. Plugged three holes from the original giant stable and sanded the lid clean of wood (never fun!), The wound from the old stable shone white. Used alcohol that extracted paint from teak and ebony shavings to color the lid before I varnished with primer and lightly colored spirit varnish. The back of the neck also had to be dyed to match the side and bottom and painted with spirit lacquer.

All the tricks in the book for an GammelGura were used, carbon fiber rod in the neck, K&K mic, oversaddle tinting, composite stable legs, "turbo plugs", stable plate in spruce and A-frame around the sound hole. Bushings were also mounted for the string poles. A transparent pickguard and a guitar strap knob were fitted. Stringed up with Newtone Heritage 0.12.

It is an unusual guitar and the sound is also unusual. Probably the most loud Old Guran to date. There is definitely no shy violin, good attack and high volume allows it to compete with a banjo 🙂 But not only sounds loud but good too, very clear and distinct. Maybe the plywood shines through with a little more primitive and less beautiful tone than usual, you could say it sounds a bit like it looks! Have had five different people who tested it and everyone thinks it was good 🙂

Had trouble taking pictures of it, the dark color is problematic for my camera and the pictures don't really do it justice.

   

2 Comments

  1. Hey !! Has Sk. GG116 Swedish harp guitar from 1922 until worked in Norrtälje. Number 1. Is there interest in it. It is complete with all accessories. Please inquire if you want // marks

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